Ex-Rutgers teacher jailed for sharing child porn with school computers

Gavin Swiatek was sentenced to four years in state prison.N.J. Attorney General

HILLSBOROUGH — A former Rutgers University instructor was sentenced to state prison after his conviction for using university computers to share child porn videos over the Internet.

Gavin Swiatek, 50, of Hillsborough, a former biochemistry instructor at the Rutgers University Cook Campus in New Brunswick, was sentenced Monday to four years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said in a statement from his office.

Swiatek is permanently barred from public employment, Chiesa said.

"It is shocking that a teacher, someone who is supposed to be motivated to nurture and strengthen young people, would participate in a criminal network that derives gratification from the torture of children and the destruction of their lives," Chiesa said. "Prison is the right sentence for this man and anyone else who joins the depraved network of people who share child pornography online."

Swiatek pleaded guilty on Dec. 11 to a second-degree charge of distributing child pornography, admitting he used peer-to-peer file sharing technology to make numerous files containing child pornography, primarily videos, available for users to download from a shared folder on his university computer, Chiesa said.

"The arrest and conviction of this former educator sends a clear message that New Jersey law enforcement will not tolerate the victimization of children," Colonel Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said in the statement. "Working with the Division of Criminal Justice, our detectives will leave no stone unturned to find individuals who engage in this disturbing behavior."

Swiatek was arrested on Jan. 10, 2012, at his Hillsborough home by State Police, where investigators seized a laptop computer and digital media, Chiesa said. Rutgers University also seized Swiatek’s university computer from his office, Chiesa said.

Anyone with information about the distribution of child pornography on the Internet, improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children, can contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.